Next court date set for Nov. 7

A Cortez man accused of firing a handgun inside two residences Sept. 30 made a brief appearance in court Tuesday afternoon where his attorney waived the advisement of the charges.

Mark Dunn, who is not in custody, was arrested for aggravated robbery, criminal mischief, two counts of felony menacing, felon in possession of a firearm, 3rd degree assault, theft, prohibited use of a firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment and domestic violence.

The aggravated robbery charge stems from Dunn allegedly taking a handgun from his brotherís house after the two fought for the weapon.

Dunnís attorney asked for another court date in the future in hopes of receiving a plea offer for his client. Montezuma County Judge Jennilynn Lawrence set the next court appearance for Nov. 7.

Lawrence said if there are plea negotiations before the hearing these could be ironed out before court begins at 1:30 p.m. The reasoning behind this, she said, was to ensure that any deal would be completed prior to the court hearing, so the court docket could continue to move smoothly with other cases.

According to a Cortez Police report, Dunn became upset after his wife, Teresa Carlson-Dunn, questioned him on whether he should be drinking and driving, and he responded by pulling a gun from his waistband and firing a shot slightly above and to the left of her head.

After Dunn left the residence he eventually made his way to his brotherís house where more gun shots were allegedly fired.

According to the police report, Todd Dunn said once Mark Dunn entered the residence, there was a struggle for the gun Todd Dunn was holding at his side, which eventually was taken by Mark Dunn.

Todd Dunn told police that his brother fired the gun three to four times in the house with one bullet going through a wall, narrowly missing a friendís son who was sleeping in a spare bedroom.

The report said that Mark Dunn was taken into custody at his home at about 3 a.m. on Oct. 1 after police followed him to his house.